Backcountry Ski Gear: Comprehensive Guide

[@nobodyisbest]

Dynafit skins are Pomoca also.

[@jakekaiser1399]

Good to know! They felt like pomocas but great to confirm

[@mikewilliams6086]

Great video

[@danpetru]

very nice and comprehensive

[@jakekaiser1399]

Thank you for watching

[@cerealconfiguritas]

Thanks dude, that was really helpful. I would like to know what was wrong with the Dynafit boots, can you go deeper into that?

[@jakekaiser1399]

Thanks for watching and I really wanted to love those boots (Hoji free 130) and the walk to ski mode, flex profile, and apparent stiffness to weight were incredible! In the end this boot just didnt work for my foot due to an insanely low instep and odd shape. I found being in these boots for any length of time extremely painful and would have my foot go numb within 15min or so. I tired multiple times to punch out more space (these boots are not easy to work with FYI) and this improved things some....however in the end even with these improvements this boot was painful for me and just didnt work. I would love if they would make this same class of boot with different foot shape in mind Hope this helps and for this boot would for sure try them on prior to buying them due to unique shape and them not working for many people.

[@PerfDayToday]

Nice video. What is your orange top in the recent Torrys video? Thanks.

[@jakekaiser1399]

Thank you. It's a Marmot shell that I've had a long time and don't really know the model. It seems closest to their current Minimalist or Minimalist Pro jacket but is a good 10 years old and has no tags that help. It's been a great shell but showing some signs of wear so mostly keep it for days when weather looks decent. The end of this year I did pick up a Norrona shell but will miss this bright color. Hope this helps

[@reaganfort8311]

Hey my man I was wondering as a downhill skier from the northeast looking to get into touring, are there any bindings that can do both? I’ve kinda figured I have to go to great lengths to find places to tour near me so I would be downhill more than doing free ride/touring. Any insight?

[@jakekaiser1399]

There are a few bindings that are true hybrids meant for inbounds skiing but can tour when needed. The ones I am aware of are the Salomon shift and Fritschi Tecton. Technically a pin style bindings can be used inbounds as well but if a majority of your time is spent inbounds but you want to be able to tour on occasion that is what these are made for. They will have better release characteristics, ski better, and be safer when inbounds. On the flipside they will not tour nearly as well as a pin a binding and be heavier but for usecase may be just right. I have not used either myself so can't speak to durability and ease of use. Hope this helps

[@Jay-jr6cn]

The shift binding I’ve been pretty happy with the performance over the past two years. However if you are interested in buying them on colder days I’ve had some issues with the pins and binding it’s self freezing and not wanting to transition from touring mode to skiing. But the downhill performance has been amazing. Lmk if you have any other questions. Hope this helps!

[@sebastianszczepek3237]

Look into cast touring bindings

[@Drbulletproof]

Thanks for the video! Are you planning on more skiing videos? I Was wandering, did you try to ski the f1 with the navis or havier skies?

[@jakekaiser1399]

Thanks for watching! I'll for sure be doing more ski videos in the spring when the bigger lines are safe and may try and go with others as would like to mix up the POV ski footage more. In terms of using the F1 with the Navis I have yet to ski that combo but do know plenty of people who ski F1 or similar ~1250g boots with skis around the weight and width of the Navis so am sure it would be fine. I've had no reason to test it out yet but if I get a chance will provide an update here.

[@Drbulletproof]

@@jakekaiser1399 Thanks for the reply, I'm looking at the f1 as a replacement for my boots and I was wandering how they perform in bad snow (common here in europe) and with havier skies. I'll keep an eye out for more ski videos!

[@juan3387]

Quick q... Did you try the dynafit radicals? They are a tad softer than the hoji free but way wider and larger instep. You get the best of the hoji at a more comfortable and wider feet...

[@jakekaiser1399]

I did try them on while boot shopping and did find them wider than the Hoji yet not perfect for my foot. I forget the details but it might have been heel feeling pretty loose as I have a wider foot but small heel. I love the Dynafit features and will for sure see how their lineup looks when I need new boots

[@alltoone]

Hi, just out of curiosity regarding the use of Scarpa F1s, would like to ask what is your weight? I am 6.13 in height at 187 pounds and can flex those boots like leather. They were really too soft and not suitable for me even for a lighter 88mm underfoot touring ski. Is really hard to find a stiff (around 110-120 flex) and also light touring boot.

[@jakekaiser1399]

I weight around 160 pounds and also find them not super stiff even when cranked down as much as possible. I still think they ski decent for the weight but those are by no means a stiff boot and from what I can tell you will need to up the weight for more stiffness. I personally didnt use the F1's that much this past year and wound up taking the heavier boots 90% of days and think the weight penalty was well worth it for skiing performance. Best of luck with the boot search!

[@Ben-ej1xp]

Nice vid. What length Navis length did you go with and what’s hour height? I’m 180cm height and wondering if I go with the 179 or 185. Current nordica enforcer is 185.

[@jakekaiser1399]

Thank you and I am using the 173cm. I'm ~174cm tall and think the 179cm would have been great for me but opted for the 173cm to allow this to be a good couloir ski for me. I find for myself that >176cm gets a little longer than I want for tighter lines and sized down due to this. I would think 179cm or 185cm would both be great options and would personally ask if you have had any concerns with current 185cm length and if you want more stability or less weight and more maneuverability. I hope this helps and best of luck with the decision

[@Ben-ej1xp]

@@jakekaiser1399 thanks man. Good you understood my garbled-auto-corrected comment! 😂

[@jakekaiser1399]

@@Ben-ej1xp No worries and happens to the best of us